Social menu

Technologies, Platforms and Partnerships in support of the African agricultural science agenda

Apr 4, 2017 - 09:00 am GMT to Apr 5, 2017 - 04:30 pm GMT

A meeting was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire April 4 and 5, 2017, co-hosted by IFPRI and AfricaRice, to strengthen linkages and forge stronger partnerships around new ideas, tools and technologies that contribute to developments in agricultural science, technology and innovation. The meeting was attended by over 60 participants from international development institutions (World Bank, Africa Development Bank, IFAD and USAID) and technical partners (CGIAR Centers, national partners including universities, sub-regional organizations, private sector and NGOs). It demonstrated how new technologies and their assessments, delivery mechanisms, shared platforms, and new tools will support agricultural transformation and economic development in Africa.

In response to and as part of CGIAR’s technical support to the implementation of the Science Agenda, IFPRI organized its activities around the following research concepts: 1) Develop and disseminate tools needed to promote information sharing and new agricultural research findings at national and regional levels, and 2) Contribute evidence-based pathways to ensure research has direct impact on rural poverty and food and nutrition security.

Funding support for the Scientific and Technical Partnerships in Africa program was provided by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The Meeting:

Reviewed and discussed initial highlights and results from IFPRI and partners three workstreams as proof of concept in technical support of the Science Agenda.

Explored examples of country level applications of technologies, technology platforms, and their delivery mechanisms.

Prepared for specific business cases for technologies and examined further the role private and public sector partnerships play in technology investment in Africa.

Explored opportunities to create synergies in agricultural R&D that could make a difference in brokering institutional and technical partnerships moving ahead.

The three workstreams discussed and delivered include the following activities:

A Technology Platform, being developed as a technical partnership instrument, to provide data and analytical assistance to partners in helping them improve data collection and management for improved agricultural investment planning. In this workstream, IFPRI partners withASARECA, CCARDESA, and CORAF/WECARD in country-led case studies to define the uptake and adoption of agricultural technologies and provide pilot opportunities to “broker” new technologies through partnerships along the value chain. Country case studies, chosen by the SRO partners and designed as part of the initial phase focused on CORAF/WECARD’s work on NERICA rice in Senegal, ASARECA’s work on quality protein maize (QPM) in Uganda, and CCARDESA’s research on improved breeding of sheep and goats in Namibia.

A portal developed by RUFORUM and ASTI/IFPRI on African Agricultural Higher Education Capacities (AgHEd). The meeting also included updates from ASTI’s new datasets and analyses on agricultural R&D indicators for Africa South of the Sahara.

A group of ex-ante Technology Assessments of 10 key CGIAR agricultural technologies, produced with partner institutions. This work involved determination of potential impacts and demonstrated key analytical tools to support the implementation and delivery of the Science Agenda. During the meeting, four of the promising ten technologies were reviewed and discussed in depth. An expansion of all ten technology assessments over the course of the program is envisaged.